We did everything possible! – Mikel

Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel could not hide his disappointment after Nigeria were knocked out of the 2018 World Cup following their 2-1 loss to Argentina yesterday evening.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring, shooting past Francis Uzoho in the 15th minute after a pass from Banega, Victor Moses restored parity from the spot four minutes into the second half before Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo volleyed home the winner with four minutes remaining.

“We wanted to go through, we did all we can, we conceded two goals. We did everything we could,” Mikel told reporters after the game at Saint Petersburg Stadium.

“The team gave everything today, I am so proud of the boys, everybody pushed and pushed.

“We knew it was going to be difficult to play against these great players but we stood our ground, we did everything possible but it just wasn’t to be.”

Argentina finished second in Group D with Iceland losing 2-1 to Croatia in the other fixture, the South Americans will play Group C winners France in Kazan on Saturday.